Description

Hexbloods trace can their heritage to one of three: the Fey, Hags or Eldritch beings beyond our comprehension.

Where wishing fails, ancient magic can offer a heart’s desire—at least, for a time. Hexbloods are individuals infused with eldritch magic, fey energy, or mysterious witchcraft.

Some who enter into bargains with hags gain their deepest wishes but eventually find themselves or their offspring transformed: ears that split in forked points, skin in lurid shades, long hair that regrows if cut, or an irremovable living crown. Along with these marks, hexbloods manifest hag- or eldritch traits, such as darkvision, and a variety of magical methods to beguile the senses and avoid the same.

While many hexbloods gain their lineage after making a deal with a hag or eldritch being, others reveal their nature as they age—particularly if they were influenced by them early in life or even before their birth.

Some hexbloods turn to lives of adventure, seeking to discover the mysteries of their magic, to forge a connection with their fey natures, or to avoid a hag that obsesses over them.

Culture

What makes one a hexblood can have many cause. Here are just a few examples:

• Perhaps seeking to have a child, your parent(s) made a bargain with a hag in the woods. You are the result of that arrangement.

• Fey kidnappers swapped you and your parents’ child.

• You wandered into the wrong place as a child and were 'blessed' by a great old one.

History

Heir of Hags

One way hags create more of their kind is through the creation of hexbloods. Every hexblood exhibits features suggestive of the hag whose magic inspires their powers. This includes an unusual crown, often called a “eldercross” or “witch’s turn.” This living, garland-like part of a hexblood’s body extends from their temples and wraps behind the head, serving as a visible mark of the bargain between hag and hexblood, a debt owed, or a change to come.

Becoming a Hag

Hags can undertake a ritual to irreversibly transform a hexblood they created into a new hag, either one of their own kind or that embodies the hexblood’s nature. This requires that both the hag and hexblood be in the same place and consent to the lengthy ritual— circumstances most hexbloods shun but might come to accept over the course of centuries. Once a hexblood undergoes this irreversible ritual, they emerge as a hag.